This annual report provides an overview of the early achievements and innovation from the first year of the New Skills ready network initiative. With the support of Advance CTE and Education Strategy Group, the six New Skills ready network sites – Boston, MA; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Indianapolis, IN; and Nashville, TN – engaged in a robust process to analyze current policies and practices; did an analysis of their data to identify equity gaps around access, enrollment and outcomes; and analyzed their capacity for collecting, reporting and using data across and within institutions and state agencies. The findings from the needs assessments set the foundation for each site’s year one action plans and identified best practices associated with the four priority areas:
- Strengthening the alignment and rigor of career pathways;
- Designing, implementing and scaling real-world work experiences;
- Building seamless transitions to support postsecondary success; and
- Closing equity gaps.
